Congress takes aim at school lunch
If Congress continues on its current path, students will be eating less healthy, and less often. Republicans in the U.S. House are advancing a bill to alter the Child Nutrition and Education Act. The changes, proposed by Rep. Todd Rokita, R-Ind., would waive nutritional standards and raise the amount of poverty needed in a school before free meals are provided to students. The bill significantly weakens the Community Eligibility Provision that reduces administrative burdens and increases school lunch and breakfast access in high-poverty schools. Under existing law, schools can offer free meals to all students if at least 40 percent receive certain other types of government assistance. This is because when 40 percent of students are actively involved in assistance programs, an estimated two-thirds of students would qualify for free…